Part 2

Links located within the text will take you to the area indicated. I encourage you to follow each of the links while reading through this study since it will greatly help with your understanding of the KJB subject.

A very common belief among Christians is that the newer versions of the Bible are easier to understand than the KJB because they use more modern language. And the truth of the matter is that the newer versions do, for the most part, use language that is current with the language spoken today by most Americans. However, this is not always the case. Take, for example, these word changes taken from the NKJV...

These are only a very few of the changes that make the newer versions "easier to understand" because they use "more modern language". The KJB does have archaic words in it, but that does not mean that it needs to be discarded, it means that it needs to be studied a little harder. God wants you to study your Bible anyway as seen in 2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God... which, by the way, has been removed from every other version. The KJB is the only version that tells you to study your Bible. Isn't that interesting? The way you handle the archaic words in the KJB is explained very clearly in Chapter 4 of The Answer Book by Dr. Sam Gipp.

The question of whether it is good to compare the different versions to get a better understanding of the true meaning is a pretty simple one. The answer can be summed up with one question. Do you believe God is a liar? Here's why I ask. God made a promise in the Bible about His word. Ps 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. Matt 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. God promised us that He would keep His word and that His words would not pass away. Many times we look at this issue and think, "How could it be possible that we have a perfect Bible after all these years of men handling it and copying it and translating it?" Men aren't perfect and we make mistakes all the time. But you're missing one very important point which is, God didn't say that man would preserve His words, He said that He would preserve His words. So the point is that God said He would preserve His words and God is not a liar. So His words have to be here somewhere. So there has to be a Bible that you can pick up and hold in your hand and say, "this is the perfect preserved word of God that He preserved according to His promise". And since there can only be one truth, and none of the different versions agree with each other in every single way, then only one of them can be true. So to answer the question, is it good to compare the different versions to get a better understanding of the true meaning? The answer is no because only one of those versions is true. Why would you compare truth with error?

Since some people have a hard time believing that any version of the Bible could have error I'm going to give some examples below. Many of these are very commonly known and a surprising number of Christians know about these errors yet continue to use those versions anyway. Error is defined as "a wandering or deviation from the truth." If something has deviated from the truth it is called a lie. But for the sake of offending less people, I will refer to these additions, deletions, and changes not as lies, but errors.

KJB - Luke 2:33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.
NIV - The child's father	NASV - His father	NRSV - the child's father

The changes made in Luke 2:33 take away the Deity of Jesus Christ. They claim that Joseph was Jesus' father, when that could be no farther from the truth. God was Jesus' Father, not Joseph. This is an error.

KJB - 1 Tim 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
NIV - He appeared in a body	NASV - He who was revealed in the flesh	NRSV - He was revealed in flesh

This is a very important change. It is painfully clear from the KJB that this verse is talking about God manifesting Himself in flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. The other versions completely remove God from the verse and context and destroy one of the greatest verses on the Deity of Jesus Christ in the entire Bible.

KJB - 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
NIV - For there are three that testify:	NASV - For there are three that testify:	CEV - In fact, there are three who tell about it.

The other versions I listed here show the entire text of verse 7. It isn't really even verse 7. What they have done here is omit verse 7 from the text and turn verse 8 into verses 7 and 8. This verse is the absolute strongest verse in the entire Bible on the Trinity. With that in mind, why do you think it has been messed with? Do you think that possibly the one that has been changing God's word since the very beginning (see Gen 3) could have been involved here? "Things that are different are not the same."

KJB - Col 1:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
NIV - redemption, the forgiveness of sins	NASV - redemption, the forgiveness of sins	NRSV - redemption, the forgiveness of sins

The problem here should be blatantly obvious to anyone who is truly born again. We all know that without Christ's blood being shed on Calvary, we could not be saved since without shedding of blood is no remission (Heb 9:22). The other versions are trying to take the blood out of it. Why is that?

KJB - Mark 1:2 As it is written in the prophets
NIV - It is written in Isaiah the prophet	NASV - As it is written in Isaiah the prophet	ESV - As it is written in Isaiah the prophet

On the surface this doesn't seem to be such a big deal. It would appear that the newer versions are just being more specific. The problem is that what Mark 1:2 is talking about comes next and says this...Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. That is not written anywhere in Isaiah. Not in any version or any language. It is a quote from Malachi 3:1. If I said to you that George Bush made this speech famous, "Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers..." you would call me a liar right to my face. How is this any different than what the new versions have done here?

KJB - 2 Sam 21:19 Elhanan...slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite,
NIV - Elhanan...killed Goliath the Gittite	NASV - Elhanan...killed Goliath the Gittite	ESV - Elhanan...struck down Goliath the Gittite

KJB - 1 Sam 17:50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him
NIV - So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone...he struck down the Philistine and killed him.	NASV - Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him	ESV - So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him

Isn't that interesting. The only version that doesn't contradict itself is the good old King James. People are always talking about contradictions in the Bible when most of them can't even find one. Well here's one. Only thing is, this contradiction is only found in the new versions.

Finally, here is a list of verses that are missing from the NIV and many of the other newer versions.

Matthew 17:21
Matthew 18:11
Matthew 23:14
Mark 7:16
Mark 9:44
Mark 9:46
Mark 11:26
Mark 15:28
Luke 17:36
Luke 23:17
John 5:4
Acts 8:37
Acts 15:34
Acts 24:7
Acts 28:29
Romans 16:24

Now I'm not going to tell you that these errors are lies, because that would offend you and I don't want to do that. But I just want to point out that God, who is Holy and Perfect and cannot make a mistake nor tell a lie, would never write a book that has errors in it. Who is the father of the lie? See John 8:44 for your answer.

In the next section I hope to explain what is behind all of these different versions to include the motives and the motivators behind the new version movement.